A: I am currently working on the completion of a series that I started working on a few years ago. However, it was only recently that I reached a conceptual solution for this series.

Q: What materials are you using in your current artworks? Are the materials you are using new materials or materials you have used in the past?

A: In my current artworks, I use the same materials, that is, ink, watercolor and pencil.

Q: Are you working on a new series? What is the name of the series? How is it different from the previous series you worked on?

A: Yes, I started working on a new series. My new series, as well as my other series, have no names. This is because I would like the viewer to have no preconceptions when they view my artworks. In this new series, I use different materials, and the content is also different. I am using a dense grey cardboard and acrylic paint as a base. I decided to use these materials as a result of experimenting. It is difficult to explain the content of this new series because it is still in the works; the only thing that I can say is that it is more picturesque than my previous artworks.

Q: As the year-end is approaching, how do you think the year 2015 has been for you in terms of your art career and goals? What are your goals for 2016?

A: In 2015, I mainly completed the series I had already started working on. This year, I feel that I have experimented more compared to other years. For 2016, I have one goal: Just to create.

Q: Do you feel that your artwork style has changed over the years, and if so, why?

A: It is hard for me to judge whether my artwork style has changed over the years. I think that other people can see the change in my artwork style better than myself.

The themes of each of my artworks have changed over the years. However, recently I discovered that there is one theme that remains unchanged among those themes: It is “life and death”.

What do you like the most about your artworks? I understand that you draw while travelling; where is your favorite destination to travel?

What I like the most about my artworks is, when I have an artwork or a part of an artwork that expresses the color of “light” to my satisfaction. When travelling both international and domestic, I am attracted to waterside scenery.

*Image: Photo of Noriko Nagano painting her artwork.

What type of medium do you often use? Why do you like such medium?

I paint most of my artworks on washi paper. Washi itself is a beautiful artwork, and I also use other rich mediums such as watercolor and mineral pigments.

Can you tell us what type of artworks you are currently working on?

I am painting memories that anyone may have, on top of scenery that can be seen anywhere.

Where and when do you like to produce your artworks?

I produce my artworks at my studio in Shonan. I like to produce my artworks in the middle of the day on a sunny day, when I can distinguish the delicate differences of lightness among light colors.

Do you have a message to our readers?

I hope to produce artworks that will enable the viewers to relate to their own emotions when they see my paintings.

I am currently working on artworks relating to a total of four different series, and in two of the series, I use unordinary watercolor. I am also experimenting with colors, using colored pencils. My initial choice of materials is spontaneous, but in the same series, I continue using the same materials. I often work on different series at the same time, and I do not have a specific pattern as to when I begin a new series.

Is there a particular place you like to be when you paint, or a particular time of the day that you like to produce your artworks? What would you say your overall working style is like?

I am not tied to a particular place. Now I work from home, mostly at nights. Working at nights is more of a habit because when I was an architect, I had to make time to paint while working full time as an architect. In terms of my working style, since my creative energy comes from internal influences, I prefer to work alone without any audience.

*Image above: Photo of Oleg Berezutskiy creating his artwork.

How does a typical day go for you?

My typical day goes differently for me. I do not have a daily and weekly schedule. Everything changes, and I am flexible with how my day goes. However, all my mornings start the same. Every morning I start with meditation.

Does the change of seasons or travelling in any way affect your artworks? Do you feel that your painting style has changed over the years?

Change of seasons does not affect my artworks. Sometimes I like to travel, and my travels can affect the experimental part of my creative process. The only thing that can affect my painting process itself is, if I could become as hollow as a bamboo: What I mean by this is, because my artworks are not driven by a theme or my will, if my mind could become as hollow as the inside of a bamboo, it would help me to create freely, with no thoughts and feelings. As for my painting style, yes, it has changed over the years. My artworks have become calmer and meditative.